EMPIRE MAGAZINE-THANOS Vector Cover Commission

For as long as I can remember I always admired Empire Magazine and as a result I included it to my "Bucket List" of Brands I would be honored to collaborate with and have fun. Well, dreams to come true...

What the Creative Director appreciated most about the Iron Man equation was the color , the sense of motion and the "Deco-Pop" style I had created for myself over 5 years ago.

( below) I enjoy exploring a few options for my client's request.Here's a look at how I set up my sketches in Adobe Illustrator.

Since this illustration is intended to be the cover, I removed the text explorationand delivered the first round with an exploration in Thanos' expression and background.

and then placed in the Empire branding

Round 1 feedback was received, we now had an approved pose. So we quickly went into Round 2-where I delivered a spectrum of options pertaining tolighting, mood and facial expression of Thanos. ( see below)

Round 2 feedback received we now were in the home stretch and was given the green light to play with their Branding- which rarely ever happens in this industry.So I respectfully went into round 3. Below is the first evolution for the stylized Empire Branding but I felt it detracted too much from the original and explored a less extreme interpretation but smarter version leveraging the lens flares off the Gauntlet and adding them up top to the letters.

below- Round 3 options delivered.

above is the what I call the "Beta" -, that illustration that is about 99% done and only needing some slight finessing before going to final.

Below is a click through video of the actual vector created in Adobe Illustrator + Wacom Intuospro.

below final magazine cover thanks to the Creative Director at Empire Magazine.